Resistive materials

ABSTRACT

Electrically resistive material including platinum and from about 5 and about 70 molar percent or iridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereof, calculated based on platinum as 100%, are disclosed.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/303,379, filed on July 6, 2001.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is generally directed to the field of electricallyresistive materials. In particular, the present invention is directed toelectrically resistive materials that can be deposited as thin films andpatterned to form discrete resistors that may be embedded in printedcircuit boards.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,592 describes thin film resistive material that maybe patterned to form discrete resistive elements (resistors) that may beembedded in printed circuit boards. The thin films are formedpredominantly of platinum. To increase the resistance, various levels,typically from 0.1 to 20 wt %, particularly from 0.5 to 5 wt %, of totalmaterial is a metal oxide and/or a metalloid oxide. The most thoroughlydiscussed oxide in this application is silica, although others, such asalumina and ceria, are also noted. The thin films described in thisapplication are preferably formed by combustion chemical vapordeposition (“CCVD”) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,562,021 orcontrolled atmosphere chemical vapor deposition (“CACVD”) as describedin European Patent Application EP 976 847 A2.

It may be appreciated that devices that utilize printed circuit boards(“PCBs”) as components may be exposed to temperature extremes, and manyindustry specifications require performance over a temperature range offrom −50° C. to 150° C. Over such temperature ranges the electricalperformance of the printed circuit board must remain relatively constantfor the device to function properly. A problem that has been noted withplatinum based thin film resistors, such as those described inabove-described U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,592, is that the thermal coefficientof resistivity (“TCR”) tends to be greater than is required for many PCBapplications. For consistent electrical performance over broadtemperature range, it is desired that the TCR of a material be as low aspossible.

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provideelectrically resistive materials with low TCRs, particularly such amaterials that may be deposited as a thin film, patterned to formdiscrete resistors, and embedded in printed circuit boards.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides an electrically resistivematerial comprising platinum and from about 5 to about 70 molar percentof iridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereof, calculated based on platinumas 100%.

In another aspect, the present invention provides an electricallyresistive material comprising platinum and from about 5 to about 70molar percent of iridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereof, calculatedbased on platinum as 100%, wherein the electrically resistive materialis a thin film.

In still another aspect, the present invention provides a printed wiringboard including an electrically resistive material comprising platinumand from about 5 to about 70 molar percent of iridium, ruthenium ormixtures thereof, calculated based on platinum as 100%, wherein theelectrically resistive material is coated with a dielectric material.

In yet another aspect, the present invention includes an electronicdevice including a printed wiring board including an electricallyresistive material comprising platinum and from about 5 to about 70molar percent of iridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereof, calculatedbased on platinum as 100%, wherein the electrically resistive materialis coated with a dielectric material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As used throughout the specification, the following abbreviations shallhave the following meanings: ° C.=degrees Centigrade; ppm=parts permillion, by weight; Hz=herz; psi=pounds per square inch; nm=nanometer;cm=centimeter; wt %=percent by weight; ml=milliliter; min=minute;g=gram; μg=microgram; and PCB=printed circuit board.

Unless otherwise noted, all amounts are percent by weight and all ratiosare by weight. All numerical ranges are inclusive and combinable in anyorder, except where it is obvious that such numerical ranges areconstrained to add up to 100%.

The present invention provides an electrically resistive materialcomprising platinum and from about 5 to about 70 molar percent ofiridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereof, calculated based on platinum as100%. Preferably, such resistive materials are thin film resistors. By“thin film” it is meant that the films are less than or equal to 500 nm.Thus, the present invention further provides an electrically resistivematerial comprising platinum and from about 5 to about 70 molar percentof iridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereof, calculated based on platinumas 100%, wherein the electrically resistive material is a thin film.

Electrically resistive materials in accordance with the presentinvention are platinum-based, i.e., the major material is platinum. Theresistive materials contain from about 10 to 70 mole percent iridium,ruthenium or mixtures thereof, and preferably 2 mole percent to 50 molepercent, calculated relative to platinum being 100 percent. If rutheniumis used alone (without iridium), it is preferably used at between about2 and about 10 mole percent calculated relative to platinum being 100percent. If iridium is used alone (without ruthenium), it is preferablyused at between about 20 and about 70 mole percent calculated relativeto platinum being 100 percent. In the resistive materials in accordancewith the invention, the iridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereof exist inboth elemental form and in oxide form. Typically, the iridium, rutheniumor mixtures thereof are from about 50 to about 90 mole percent elementalmetal and from about 10 to about 50 mole percent oxide(s) of theiridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereof.

Typically, at a resistance of 100 ohms per square at 25° C., theabsolute value of the TCR of the materials in accordance with theinvention is about 500 ppm/° C. or less, preferably about 350 ppm/° C.or less, more preferably about 350 ppm/° C. or less, and even morepreferably about 100 ppm/° C. or less.

The resistive materials of the present invention are typically depositedon a substrate by a variety of methods. Suitable methods include, butare not limited to, CCVD or CACVD, and preferably by CCVD.

In depositing the resistive materials of the present invention, aprecursor solution is typically prepared containing the precursors forboth the platinum and the precursor(s) for the iridium, ruthenium ormixtures thereof. Suitable precursors for platinum include, but are notlimited to, platinum acetylacetonate (“PtAcAc”) anddiphenyl-(1,5-cyclooctadiene) platinum (II) (“PtCOD”). Suitableprecursors for iridium and ruthenium include, but are not limited to,tris (norbornadiene) iridium (III) acetyl acetonate (“IrNBD”), and bis(ethylcyclopentadienyl) ruthenium (II). The precursors are co-dissolvedin a single solvent system, such as toluene or toluene/propane to aconcentration (total of platinum, iridium, and/or ruthenium precursors)of from about 0.15 wt % to about 1.5 wt %. This solution is thentypically passed through an atomizer to disperse the precursor solutioninto a fine aerosol and the aerosol is ignited in the presence of anoxidizer, particularly oxygen, to produce the platinum and iridium,ruthenium or mixture thereof zero valence metals(s) and oxide(s).

The zero valence metal(s) and oxide(s) are deposited on a substrate,such as, but not limited to, a conductive metal such as copper ornickel, or a polymer, such as polyimide or polyamideimide, to a desiredthickness. Preferably, the present resistive materials include fromabout 50 to about 90 molar percent of iridium, ruthenium or mixturesthereof in metallic form and from about 20 to about 10 molar percent ofiridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereof in oxide form.

Suitable thin film thicknesses include, but are not limited to, from 5to 500 nm, more typically from about 5 to about 100 nm, most typicallyfrom about 5 to 20 nm.

The thin film resistive material on the substrate is then patterned,e.g., with an ablative etching process, such as described inabove-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,592, to form a pattern of discreteresistors. After the thin film is patterned to form resistors, the TCRmay in many cases be further lowered by aging for several hours atslightly elevated temperatures, e.g., 80° C. The resistor pattern maythen be embedded in a printed circuit board and integrated into thecircuitry in a conventional manner.

The present resistive materials have low TCRs. That low TCRs areachieved by combinations of iridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereof withplatinum is surprising in view of the fact that all three metals havehigh, positive TCRs. Platinum, iridium and ruthenium have thermalcoefficients of resistivity (ppm/° C.), measured relative to 100ohms/square at 25° C., of 3900, 3920, and 4580, respectively. However,the co-deposited elements produce material of the present inventionhaving TCRs of 500 ppm/° C. or less, preferably 350 ppm/° C. or less,more preferably 200 ppm/° C. or less, and still more preferably of 100ppm/° C. or less (absolute value measured relative to 100 ohms/square at25° C.).

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tospecific examples.

EXAMPLE 1

A precursor solution was prepared containing, 23.06 g Pt COD, 17.00 gIrNBD, 7,070 g toluene, 3,404 g propane, and 7.2 g dodecylamine. Acontinuous feed coater is described in related U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 60/233,022 filed 15 Sep. 2000 and 60/249,979, filed 20 Nov.2000. In this continuous feed coater, two webs of foil, e.g., copperfoil, are continuously fed in a generally upward direction, includingthrough an intermediate location where the foils pass closely adjacenteach other to define a narrow constriction. Below the constriction isdisposed a flame that burns a precursor solution by which is producedthe chemicals that deposit on the foil webs to comprise the electricallyresistive material.

Using the continuous feed coater, two continuously fed copper foils werecoated with a platinum/iridium oxide by combusting the precursorsolution and subjecting the copper foil to the flame-produced vapor thatwas re-directed by a flow of air under the following conditions:

Torch Setup Redirect air, standard liter per 90 minute (“slpm”) Redirectpressure (psi) 13.6 Tip oxygen (flame) flowrate (slpm) 5.5 (left) 5.3(right) Tip oxygen (flame) pressure (psi) 3.8 (left) 3.7 (right)Solution flow rate (ml/min) 5.2 (left) 5.0 (right) CHN heater Set Point(° C.) 200 (left) 200 (right) Continuous Feed Coater Setup (temperaturesin ° C.) Plenum heater 80/91 (left) 80/91 (right) Radient Heater 120/123(left) 120/121 (right) Roll Heater temp. 100/99 (lower) 100/100 (upper)Roll Heater pressure (psi) 20 (lower) 20 (upper) Exhaust Frequency (Hz)9.5 Foil Speed (cm/min) 1.5 1.5 Brake Setting (%) 22 22 Vacuum (in. H₂O)7.0 Plenum geometry 1 cm (top and bottom)

A platinum/iridium layer was deposited containing 49 mole % iridium toplatinum-iridium loading of 20 μg/cm², the equivalent thickness being 10nm (assuming 100% theoretical density-actual thickness at least 4-5times greater). The resistivity was measured at 300 ohms/square at 25°C. The TCR was measured at 360 ppm/° C.

EXAMPLE 2

Under similar conditions to Example 1, the iridium precursor wasreplaced with a ruthenium precursor, a platinum/ruthenium layer wasdeposited containing 5.3 mole % ruthenium Pt-Ru loading of 10.6 μg/cm²,the equivalent thickness being 5 nm (assuming 100% theoreticaldensity-actual thickness at least 4-5 times greater). The resistivitywas measured at 662 ohms/square at 25° C. The TCR was measured at 303ppm/° C.

1. An electrically resistive material comprising platinum co-depositedwith about 5 to about 70 molar percent of iridium, ruthenium or mixturesthereof, calculated based on platinum as 100%, wherein from about 50 toabout 90 molar percent of the iridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereof isin elemental metal form and about 10 to about 50 mole percent is inoxide form, wherein the electrically resistive material has a thermalcoefficient of resistivity of 500 ppm/° C. or less measured at 100 ohmsper square at 25°.
 2. The electrically resistive material of claim 1wherein the electrically resistive material is a thin film.
 3. Theelectrically resistive material of claim 1 comprising iridium.
 4. Theelectrically resistive material of claim 1 comprising from about 20 toabout 70 mole percent iridium calculated based on platinum as 100%. 5.The electrically resistive material of claim 1 comprising ruthenium. 6.The electrically resistive material of claim 1 comprising from about 20to about 10 molar percent of said iridium, ruthenium or mixtures thereofin oxide form.
 7. The electrically resistive material of claim 1 havinga thickness of from 5 to about 500 nm.
 8. The electrically resistivematerial of claim 1 having a thickness of from about 5 to about 100 nm.9. The electrically resistive material of claim 1 having a thickness offrom about 5 to about 20 nm.
 10. The electrically resistive material ofclaim 1 having a thermal coefficient of resistivity of 350 ppm/° C. orless measured at 100 ohms per square at 25° C.
 11. The electricallyresistive material of claim 1 having a thermal coefficient ofresistivity of 200 ppm/° C. or less measured at 100 ohms per square at25° C.
 12. The electrically resistive material of claim 1 having athermal coefficient of resistivity of 100 ppm/° C. or less measured at100 ohms per square at 25° C.